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2 School Districts Given Deadline By State

LANSING (WWJ/AP) – State officials have given the Buena Vista and Inkster school districts until Monday to secure new loans to finance operations or face being dissolved.

The offer from state Treasurer Andy Dillon and state Superintendent Mike Flanagan this week came after Inkster’s business manager said the district was in talks with Comerica Bank to secure short-term financing to pay off about $800,000 in overdue vendor bills.

Dillon says that if the Inkster and Buena Vista districts can’t get the financing by Monday afternoon, the state and intermediate school districts in Wayne and Saginaw counties will move forward with dissolving them.

The measure lets the state’s school superintendent and treasurer dissolve a district under certain circumstances, including if it doesn’t submit a deficit-elimination plan or submits one but lacks the ability to implement it. Other prerequisites include a finding that the district isn’t financially viable, has 300 to 2,400 students (exempting larger districts) and loses at least 10 percent of its enrollment from the previous school year.